XGrants

The XGrant program supports EPFL students who want to start an innovative company.

In a nutshell

Custom guidance, training and access to resources

A grant up to CHF 10'000.-

Immersive trips and open desks abroad

In San Francisco, Berlin, Munich, Copenhagen, Eindhoven, and beyond.

The XGrant process

1. Get in touch.

Tell us briefly about your idea through this short form. It is NEVER too early to apply!

2. Let's see how we can best support you.

We invite you for a one-hour introduction meeting to get to know you and your project more.

The goal of this meeting is to define together how we can best support you, guide through the local entrepreneurship ecosystem, and facilitate the access to the resources & network you need..

At the end of the meeting, we define together what your next steps are, and set a future meeting to discuss your progress.

It is not mandatory for you to prepare a presentation at this stage, we can have this first meet-up on a question & answer basis.

3. Pitch for funding

When you have reached the point at which you need funding, we invite you to pitch in front of the XGrant selection committee.

You have to prepare a formal 10-minutes presentation (we are sharp on timing!), followed by 10 minutes-Q&A from the jury.

4. Make the most of the 1-year program.

We continue a periodic follow-up of your project to keep supporting you in the process of creating and developing your venture.

5. Pitch for additional funding

If you got less than CHF 10'000.- on your first pitch to the committee, you are welcome to apply a second within one year to 5. Get additional funding (up to CHF 10'000.- total).

6. Fair wind to you and your company!

One year after you got funded (the second time, if applicable), we proceed to a one-hour outboarding interview to get your feedback and define together 6. How we can best support you for the next phases.

In a nutshell, we are looking for commited individuals and teams who display a strong entrepreneurial spirit & drive. EPFL will financially invest in you, so we need to make sure that you will make good use of this investment!

For additional details, here is the evaluation grid used by the selection committee to evaluate if you are ready for funding or not. The evaluation grid for the second slice of funding is slightly different.

No, you are free to use it for any kind of expense as long as you can prove that it supports the creation and development of your company.

We encourage you to use it for prototyping, equipment or business development expenses.

Mostly, to commit as much as you can to your project, and spend as much time as you can developing it.

We ask you some minimal deliverables one year after you got funded through:

what you used the funding money for, and how it helped you.

a short video testimonial, to tell other students why they should absolutely apply for an XGrant 🙂

a one-hour outboarding interview asking you for feedback about the program.

We also ask you to be ambassadors of the program to other students by encouraging them to apply.

We also sometimes ask you to pitch your project/your entrepreneurship experience in public events to help us show that the XGrant program is worth continuing!